Drum



Patented Apr. 10, 1923.

WILLIAM CHRISTIAN, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

DRUM.

Application tiled August 19, 1921. Serial No. 493,564.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that WILLIAM CHRISTIAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Faireld and State of Connecticut, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drums, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved drum, and the object of the invention is to provide a novel and simply constructed drum equipped with practical and eilicient means for properly and ideally tensioning the drum heads proper or iesh skin thereof.

With the above object in view, as well as .others which will appear as the descriptionv proceeds, the invention comprises the construction, arrangement and combination of parts as now to be fully set forth and as hereinafter to be Specifically claimed, it being understood that such changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a drum embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view as on line 2-2 in Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a still larger view detailing the drum clamp; and

Fig. 4; is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding with the disclosure of Fig. 2, but showing a variant form of the invention.

Referring more especially to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing and to the characters of reference indicated thereon, 10 denotes an ordinary drum shell of any ordinary or preferred material, and 11 denotes drum heads adapted to be fitted upon the opposite ends of said shell so that the material or flesh skin 12 thereof will be smoothly and evenly stretched over said ends. As verv clearly shown, the present embodiment of the invention includes no iiesh hoops, the marginal edge of each piece of drum head material 12, denoted by 13, being fastened in any suitable manner, as by gluing, between an 'inner and an outer ring, denoted by 14 and 15, respectively, of any suitable material and tlealrably of equal thickness and width, con* stituting the double rim of the novel drum. It will be noted that corresponding edges of the rings 14@ and 15, respectively, are flush with each other and that the marginal edges of the pieces of drum head material enter the double rims between those edges of the rings that are adjacent to each other. It Will be further noted that a circular portion, denoted by 16, of each piece of drum head material, engages an end of the shell to smoothly slide thereover, and that a considerable portion of the width of each rim, two-thirds more or less as shown is within the length of the shell, while a small portion of said width extends longitudinally beyond the opposite 'ends of the shell to make provision for the installation and operation of the practical and eiiicient means for simultaneously forcing the double rims equal distances toward each other to properly and ideally tension the drum heads proper upon both ends of the shell, as will be understood..

Of said tensioning means, illustrated in detail in Figs. 2 and 3, 17 denotes a clamp device of any suitable construction for its purpose, the one shown consisting of an internally threaded tubular member 18 and a rod 19 threaded as at 20 to engage the internal thread of said tubular member, 21 denoting the squared end of said tubular member,v and 22 denoting a handle upon said rod Vwhereby the same may be manipulated to move into and out of the tubular member.

As will be apparent from Figs. 1 and 2, the drum is provided with a number of clamp devices 17 suitably spaced thereabout and arranged longitudinally of the drum shell for their full lengths, and as best shown in Fig. 2, each clamp device is adapted to pass through the center of the thickness of each rim, the rims being provided with transversely disposed. aligning holes 23 for this purpose, and the wall of each hole being defined by a portion of both of said inner and outer rings. Obviously. small portions of the marginal edge 13 of each piece of drum head material are removed when the holes are formed.

Numeral 24 denotes U-shaped metallic members, two for each clamp device, adapted to seat upon the opposite ends of the drum shell and beneath the squared ends 21 and the handles 22. respectively, the metallic members beneath the squared ends 21 having suitably shaped depressions 25 Aheads consistingoi drum head material 1Q being adjusted.

1 -Y A v Lacasse adapted toholdsaid squared ends against turningwhile the manipulating handles are By reason of the fact that the clamp devices of the drum are 4situated to pass directly throughV the middle portion ot the thickness of each rim and that the entire length of each cla-mp device is arranged parallel With the length of the drum shell, the pulling strain ot' each of the clamp devices 'must'. alvvays be in aline coinciding with the cylindrical surface midway between the inner and outer surfaces of each rim so :that

said clamp devices constitute pertect ten- "s'ioninzgv members i'or stretching the pieces oi drum material firmly and evenly over the ends of tlie shell and for insuring` the 'original and Vezia'ctcircular conformation oi the rims. There can, therefore, be no resultant AJforce tending to .cause any part of the length oi1 any of the clamp devices to bend af'shas been heretofore been the case'.4

4Reiferring to the variant form oil the 1nvention disclosed in Fig. Ll, l have there shown a drum having a usual shell lO, drum and flesh hoops 26, ai-'i'd relatively thick onepiece rims 27 through the center of the thickness ol 'reach of which the clamp devices, denoted by -17 g pass inthe manner already described, intermediate p a'rts oic the clamp devices bei-ng` desirably situated quite close to the flesh 'hoop-s. U-shaped metallic inembers 24 may also be utilized in connection respective rims.

`with Athe present form ot the invention7 if found desirable.

Having thus fully described the invene tion, what l claim as lnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A drum comprising a shell, drum heads upon the ends thereof, each of said drum heads consisting cfa piece of drurn head material having slack therein and a rim constituted by a pair of rings between which the ot the marginal edge of said continuous y iangeportion, and clamp devices for ias* tening` the rimsupon'thefslielly said clamp devices being. arranged parallel With the shell and passing between the rings of the Signed at Bridgeport in the'countyfof `lfaireld, and `State of Connecticut, this 12th day of August A. 11,1921.

` iviniginii cnni'sTiAN. 

